Over the past number of decades, health care environments have witnessed a nearly forty percent rise in nosocomial infections arising from the delivery of surgical procedures. This increase persists despite advances in medicine and a reduction in the number and size of hospitals. Many factors are believed to contribute to the infection rise, including the prevalence of larger intensive care units (“ICUs”), fewer nurses, the increased severity of patient illness, the increased numbers of immunocompromised patients, and the scarcity of infection control practitioners.
Surgical site infections (“SSIs”) represent the third most frequently reported nosocomial infection, accounting for between 14 and 16 percent of all nosocomial infections among hospitalized patients. Among surgical patients, SSIs are the most common nosocomial infections accounting for 38 percent of such infections in this population.
The cost of a SSI to a surgical patient can be significant. The incidence of such an infection can result in extended lengths of stay, increased use of antibiotics, added pain, and longer recovery periods. Nosocomial infections also lead directly to 19,000 deaths each year and are a contributing factor to more than 80,000 additional deaths annually.
SSIs also represent additional costs to the health care system; under the majority of managed care contracts, healthcare systems are not reimbursed for the additional costs of nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections cost health care systems $4.5 billion per year. On average, a single SSI outbreak costs $3152 and causes an additional 7.3 days of hospital stay.
Most importantly, nosocomial infections are usually preventable. With over 27 million surgical procedures performed in the U.S. each year, reducing the risk of SSIs becomes a matter of saving lives. There exists, therefore, a need for an effective and easily administrable method of managing the risk of nosocomial infections in a health care delivery facility.